2026 Detroit Lions Offseason Thread

[KL2]

58 minutes ago, number20 said:

Pure speculation, but it could be a sign they might draft a DE in the first round.

Tater do you really think Muhammad is that big of a loss? He was pretty inconsistent week-to-week, and sucked against the run. He had a career year in sacks mostly due to the attention on Hutch, and he's about to turn 31. I'd rather Brad save 6M and bring in some youth

The problem is they pick 17 not 3. Can’t guarantee they get a decent one in the draft and even if you do they still need a vet for either the no 2 or 3 on depth chart. The haven’t done either and another option went off the board. Muhammad has his problem but so does everyone whether it be age, health or production. At least we knew what Muhammad could do.

 

right now we have a big ole gaping whole and the position where Brad hasn’t added anyone, really, in years. That’s the frustration 

[number20]

I think if they wanted Muhammad they would've signed them. Either they didn't want him, or didn't think he was worth it

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Just now, number20 said:

I think if they wanted Muhammad they would've signed them. Either they didn't want him, or didn't think he was worth it

I hope they have a better option for getting double digit sack totals and pressuring the QB. They already ranked near the bottom of the league in pass rush win rate, QB pressure rate, and QB time to throw in the pocket. I don't see how losing Muhammad helps this. They already needed another pass rusher with him on the roster imo.

[number20]

7 minutes ago, KL2 said:

right now we have a big ole gaping whole and the position where Brad hasn’t added anyone, really, in years. That’s the frustration 

Very true, but I honestly don't think they're going to leave it unaddressed after letting Muhammad walk. They just cleared cap space with Goff's restructure, so who knows what they're up to. I just know that rotating in aging, 1-year rentals in and out is not a long-term solution

[gehringer_2]

10 minutes ago, KL2 said:

The problem is they pick 17 not 3. Can’t guarantee they get a decent one in the draft and even if you do they still need a vet for either the no 2 or 3 on depth chart. The haven’t done either and another option went off the board. Muhammad has his problem but so does everyone whether it be age, health or production. At least we knew what Muhammad could do.

 

right now we have a big ole gaping whole and the position where Brad hasn’t added anyone, really, in years. That’s the frustration 

Lions' 'window' is turning out to have been more like a dryer vent.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

What did this front office see in Marcus Davenport that they needed to bring him back but didn't see in Muhammad?

[Jason_R]

Sportrac has Cam Jordan’s market value pegged at 1 year, $6.8 million. If the choice was between Muhummad at $6 and Jordan at $6.8, I’d take Jordan. But let’s go, Brad. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Just now, Jason_R said:

Sportrac has Cam Jordan’s market value pegged at 1 year, $6.8 million. If the choice was between Muhummad at $6 and Jordan at $6.8, I’d take Jordan. But let’s go, Brad. 

I'll be elated if we bring in Cam Jordan. He's got a history with Campbell too. I hope it happens because they need a pass rusher or two in the worst way. 

[Motown Bombers]

42 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Do you expect the 4 starters they will add on defense from now to training camp will be better or worse as a group than the combination of Anzalone, Muhammad, Reader, and Robertson? They're missing 4 starters on defense as of now. You can't get 4 starters in the draft given that you need a tackle as well and have no 3rd round pick. We also probably don't want to be starting 4 rookies on defense. Furthermore, we could need as many as 7 new starters on defense if Arnold gets arrested, Kerby isn't healthy, and Branch isn't ready to go until mid-season.

I can only hope there are more moves to come and Brad still has other moves to make.

Reader isn't a starter, McNeil and Williams are your starters. The Lions were deep at LB. Barnes, Rodriguez, Nowaske, Cunningham. Ya-Sin can play outside corner or safety. He was pretty good at corner last year. Izen will be the nickleback. They will draft a tackle. It's a deep tackle draft. 

[Sports_Freak]

56 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Do you expect the 4 starters they will add on defense from now to training camp will be better or worse as a group than the combination of Anzalone, Muhammad, Reader, and Robertson? They're missing 4 starters on defense as of now. You can't get 4 starters in the draft given that you need a tackle as well and have no 3rd round pick. We also probably don't want to be starting 4 rookies on defense. Furthermore, we could need as many as 7 new starters on defense if Arnold gets arrested, Kerby isn't healthy, and Branch isn't ready to go until mid-season.

I can only hope there are more moves to come and Brad still has other moves to make.

I'm confident Brad knows exactly what this team needs. For all we know, he has deals set up to move up in the draft and have 2 of those positions covered. Don't fall asleep on what he can get done, if he lets players walk at what appears to be a small contract, he probably has an ace up his sleeve. Like I said, the season is several months away. If training camp started next week, I would be pretty concerned. But let Brad cook...

[Sports_Freak]

1 hour ago, KL2 said:

The problem is they pick 17 not 3. Can’t guarantee they get a decent one in the draft and even if you do they still need a vet for either the no 2 or 3 on depth chart. The haven’t done either and another option went off the board. Muhammad has his problem but so does everyone whether it be age, health or production. At least we knew what Muhammad could do.

 

right now we have a big ole gaping whole and the position where Brad hasn’t added anyone, really, in years. That’s the frustration 

On March 12th, we're scheduled to pick 17th. Would it surprise any of us if Brad moved up and snagged a monster edge rusher? Or if he made a deal with one, or even a trade? Holmes knows our needs and I'm sure he has a gameplan. I refuse to panic, yet. Sometimes patience is hard but free agency just started and the draft is over a month away.

[Jason_R]

I would be very surprised to see Brad trade up in the first round for an edge rusher. I would not be surprised to see him trade back, even to the front of the second round, and still get a starting OT. 

[Hongbit]

1 hour ago, Sports_Freak said:

I'm confident Brad knows exactly what this team needs. For all we know, he has deals set up to move up in the draft and have 2 of those positions covered. Don't fall asleep on what he can get done, if he lets players walk at what appears to be a small contract, he probably has an ace up his sleeve. Like I said, the season is several months away. If training camp started next week, I would be pretty concerned. But let Brad cook...

Brad did an amazing job building this franchise into a yearly contender.  It’s incredible where they are now from when he started.   But if I’m being honest, he’s kind of sucked since they lost to SF in the NFC title game.   He hasn’t really cooked **** since then. 

Edited 17 hours ago by Hongbit

[sagnam]

39 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

Brad did an amazing job building this franchise into a yearly contender.  It’s incredible where they are now from when he started.   But if I’m being honest, he’s kind of sucked since they lost to SF in the NFC title game.   He hasn’t really cooked **** since then. 

That was the last draft he had picks from the Stafford trade. It’s also the last year he was picking top half of the draft.

 

Missing out on Quinton Mitchell by 2 picks really hurt. I wonder how much different that Washington game would have turned out.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

11 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

Reader isn't a starter, McNeil and Williams are your starters. The Lions were deep at LB. Barnes, Rodriguez, Nowaske, Cunningham. Ya-Sin can play outside corner or safety. He was pretty good at corner last year. Izen will be the nickleback. They will draft a tackle. It's a deep tackle draft. 

DJ Reader started 17 games last year and had 583 snaps and was on the field 53% of the time. Someone has to make that playing time up. Barnes himself started 17 games and had 940 snaps. Anzalone started 16 games and had 1,004 snaps. So whether Barnes is an SLB or WLB, someone has to make up Anzalone's 1,004 snaps. I don't want that to be Rodriguez that guy as he's primarily been a special teams player and only once in his career has he had more than even 350 snaps on defense. I certainly don't want career backup Trevor Nowaske or Zach Cunningham starting. So in my eyes, they probably need a SLB or WLB to replace Anzalone. 

Rock Ya-Sin had a PFF grade of 61.8 and ranked 54 out of 114. So he was middle of the pack. He started 16 games and logged 611 snaps, so he was indeed a starter, with a high snap count. Amik, even with Ya-Sin starting and playing, had 17 starts and a snap count of 843. He primarily took those as a nickel or in the slot. Someone has to make that up. Ya-Sin's snap count isn't going to go up by 843 snaps.

Edited 8 hours ago by Mr.TaterSalad

[Mr.TaterSalad]

9 hours ago, Jason_R said:

I would be very surprised to see Brad trade up in the first round for an edge rusher. I would not be surprised to see him trade back, even to the front of the second round, and still get a starting OT. 

Agreed. Furthermore, I think the edge player Brad does add in the draft will be less a pass rusher and more a multi-tool player that can play inside and out on the line. They'll be someone who is as good against the run as they are pass rushing and getting pressure on the QB. That may infact be why they moved on from Muhammad, as they may have been looking for a more stout run defender up front versus just a pure pass rusher like Muhammad was. He'll draft a Josh Paschal type replacement before he drafts a Muhammad type replacement imo.

[Motor City Sonics]

So many people giving up.     Wow.    The team is still extremely talented.  They just need to stay healthy.   

It seems like they have an OC that's as close to Ben Johnson as you can get.  That'll help.  

I'm telling you, it's gonna happen when you've given up.  It's gonna be when you don't expect it.  

Remember,  4th place schedule.     The Bears were flukey.  The Packers are soft.  The Vikings think Kyler Murray is the answer.  

 

Three things last year

- Hired a bad OC (that's on Brad and Dan)

-Ragnow's late retirement (if he'd left before the draft, ,the draft looks totally different)

-Injuries upon injuries upon injuries

- and they still went 9-8.     If they hadn't crapped the bed in the last game they'd have been in the playoffs, but they were playing with a bunch of guys off the street.  

[Motown Bombers]

McNeil and Williams will be taking Reader’s snaps. Ya-Sin played a lot due to injuries to Reed and Arnold. The Lions played a lot of base because they had three linebackers. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

14 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said:

McNeil and Williams will be taking Reader’s snaps. Ya-Sin played a lot due to injuries to Reed and Arnold. The Lions played a lot of base because they had three linebackers. 

That's still a lot of snaps for two big, 300lb interior Dlineman to take. Someone, somewhere, is going to need to be in the field taking snaps that Anzalone had, whether it's at LB, an extra DB on the field or they run heavy up front or on the edge. We also don't know what, if anything, comes of Terrion Arnold and the legal situation. He could be clean and innocent and nothing comes of it or he could be the next Cam Sutton and off the team. We all obviously hope it's the latter, not the former. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

23 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

So many people giving up.     Wow.    The team is still extremely talented.  They just need to stay healthy.   

It seems like they have an OC that's as close to Ben Johnson as you can get.  That'll help.  

I'm telling you, it's gonna happen when you've given up.  It's gonna be when you don't expect it.  

Remember,  4th place schedule.     The Bears were flukey.  The Packers are soft.  The Vikings think Kyler Murray is the answer.  

 

Three things last year

- Hired a bad OC (that's on Brad and Dan)

-Ragnow's late retirement (if he'd left before the draft, ,the draft looks totally different)

-Injuries upon injuries upon injuries

- and they still went 9-8.     If they hadn't crapped the bed in the last game they'd have been in the playoffs, but they were playing with a bunch of guys off the street.  

Needing to replace 4 starters, 5 depending on Arnold, is not giving up. It's merely pointing out they gave a lot of holes to fill and haven't yet filled them. Being concerned and expressing that is not giving up by any means. We don't all have to be state TV around here, at all times. We can express reasonable amounts of unease and concern. 

[Hongbit]

They signed Christian Izien from Tampa yesterday and he will become the Nickel corner.  He was ranked very high in that role last year.   That’s one need on defense that got checked off

[Sports_Freak]

51 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

 

- Hired a bad OC (that's on Brad and Dan)

 

People keep saying we had a bad offense but we were a top offensive team in points scored. I say it was mostly our defense that let us down. Yes, the OL wasn't as strong as in previous years but scoring wasn't the problem.

[Sports_Freak]

31 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Needing to replace 4 starters, 5 depending on Arnold, is not giving up. It's merely pointing out they gave a lot of holes to fill and haven't yet filled them. Being concerned and expressing that is not giving up by any means. We don't all have to be state TV around here, at all times. We can express reasonable amounts of unease and concern. 

Restructure all the big contracts and bring in Maxx for one season. Put all the chips in the middle of the table. So what if we have to release or trade Gibbs, Goff and St. Brown in 2027? Go for a Super Bowl in 2026 and don't worry about the future.

Or...don't. 😆

[buddha]

10 hours ago, Hongbit said:

Brad did an amazing job building this franchise into a yearly contender.  It’s incredible where they are now from when he started.   But if I’m being honest, he’s kind of sucked since they lost to SF in the NFC title game.   He hasn’t really cooked **** since then. 

yes.

he had three amazing drafts.  all time great drafts.  his drafts have nott been good the last two years and the lions are paying for it now.

you needed cheap help because those superstar drafts produced superstar players who need to get paid.  they didnt get any.

two years ago was their year and injuries killed them.  ragnow and decker retiring/getting cut has blown up their identity.  they were never going to have the money to make a big splash because of money constraints, but this has been underwhelming.

with that said, its still early.  there's time to sign someone.

brad has usually eschewed free agency.  that's almost always good practice because teams dont let good players walk, they let old declining players walk.  but when you have as many holes as this lions team, you need to make a fair amount of decent additions.  they havent really done that yet this year.

still time.

[Sports_Freak]

10 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

People keep saying we had a bad offense but we were a top offensive team in points scored. I say it was mostly our defense that let us down. Yes, the OL wasn't as strong as in previous years but scoring wasn't the problem.

Further; the Lions were ranked 22nd in points allowed last year;

https://www.foxsports.com/nfl/detroit-lions-team-summary-stats?category=defense&season=2025&sort=def_pts_a&sortOrder=asc

 

And we were the 5th highest scoring offense;

https://www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/2025-nfl-offensive-ranking-rankings

So yes, we need to overhaul our defense. And I'm sure the Lions brass knows all of this. Discard the old players as well as the ineffective players. Pass rush needs consistent pressure, players who show up every game. Strong consistent pressure makes the secondary stronger.